Laminated culvert head wall structure



Feb. 23, 1937. i P, E, HOAK 2,071,746

LAMINATED CULVERT HEAD WALL STRUCTURE Filed Feb. 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l L Were .w mgm@ Feb. 23, 1937. P. E. HoAK LAMINATED CULVERT HEAD WALL STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1955 Si Wam? Patented Feb. 23, 1937 LAMINATED CULVERT HEAD WAL STRUCTURE 11 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a laminated culvert head wall structure, which is simple, durable and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture. l

A further object is to provide a head wall structure built preferably of laminated wood, and especially designed for use in connection with culverts, such as shown in Patent Nos. 1,834,643 and 1,956,717.

Still a further object is to provide a head wall structurehaving side walls and a floor adapted especially for coaction with culverts of the laminated creosoted wood type shown in the patents mentioned.

with such a head wall structure a parapet, which is readily assembled with or removed from the side walls of the head wall structure.

Still another object is to provide a head wall having slope beams adapted to receive the impact of any' debris tending to enter the culvert and so constructed that they will stand up under the strains of even the worst iioods.

Another object is to provide a head Wall struc- 25 ture having a floor, the outer portion of which is independently mounted relative to the remaining portion of the structure, so that strains imparted thereto as by heaving ground are not transmitted to the head Wall to cause undesired 30 strains therein.

Still another object is to provide a head wall structure readily assembled without the use of kfastening means, so that it can be salvaged when it is no longer needed without any damage what- 35 ever to the head wall.

Another object is to provide a curtain wall associated with the head wall to prevent undercutting at the outer end of the head wall.

, With these and other objects in view, my in- 40 vention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my laminatedculvert head wall structure, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my 45 claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a head wall struc ture embodying my invention.

50 Figure 1d is a plan view looking in the direction of the arrow la, adjacent Figure 1, showing the joint between a parapet and a side wall of my head wall structure. Y

Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional view on the line 55 2-2 of Figure 1.

Still a further object is to provide in connection Figure 3 is a vertical, sectional view on the line3-3 of Figure l, showing the front elevation of a curtain wall used in connection with my head wall structure. f

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the head wall structure with several sections of a culvert connected therewith, parts of the structure being removed to better illustratek the construction and other parts being separated for the same purpose.

Figure 5 is a perspective View, better illustrating the joint between the parapet and the side wall of the head wall structure; and

Figure 6 is a separated perspective View of a joint between the outer section of the floor and 1 the side wall of the head wall structure.

On the accompanying drawings, I have used the reference character A toindicate a left wall section of the head wall structure. Bfindicates the right wall thereof. C indicates a floor section and D a floor section which is a continuation of the iioor section C, but independent thereof, as will hereinafter appear.

E and F are left and right wall sections of a culvert forming a continuation of the head wall structure and G and G are iioor sections thereof. A parapet member is indicated at I-I.

The head wall structure also includes slope beams, comprising wood strips lil and l2, each nailed to the other, so as to form when thus assembled a beam structure. A board It is also nailed to the sides of the boards lil and to the bottom oi the board l2 (see Figure 2) to further reinforce the slope beam.

The sidewalls A and B are also of laminated construction as will be evident by an inspection of the drawings. The upper ends of the walls A and B are cut at an angle, this angle being any angle desired for the particular installation being made.

Figures 1 and 4 show different slopes for this angle.

Portions A and B' of the walls A and B, however, are not cut at a slope on their upper ends,

these being continuations ci the rectangular culvert sections E and F. The upper ends of the portions comprising the sections A and B and the lower ends of those comprising the side walls A and B are alternately notched asl shown at Il, (Figure la) thus leaving extended ends I6, the intermediate boards being short so as to iit between the upper and lower culvert walls and likewise abut the upper face of the floor C of the head wall.

I'he upper and lower walls of the culvert and the floor C, which is formed of boards I5, have the boards alternately arranged so that projections i8 extend to contact with the squared ends of the side wall boards, while the inset ends are received in the no-tches I1. Two of the notches indicated at Ila are for coaction with the parapet H as will hereinafter be described.

The parapet H consists of three planks 20, 22 and 22a. These are nailed together, as they are laid, one against the other, to form a parapet unit. The plank 2l? is longer than the planks 22 and 22a, the latter two being of the same length and adapted to t between the beams comprising the boards I0 and l2. The ends of the plank 2|! as indicated at 2| extend beyond the planks 22 and 22a and are cut as at 23 and 24 to provide notches. These notches it over the projecting ends |60. of two of the boards in the side walls A and B, which are adjacent the notches Ila. The boards I!) and l2 are notched as indicated at I3 for reception cf the ends 2|, as best shown in Figures la and 4. Thus the parapet H is readily assembled in position by dropping it into the notches I3 and lla, it being partially received in these notches in Figure 4, and can be removed at will. This is a desirable feature in that it makes the head wall structure salvageable when the culvert is taken out for placement at some other position, the parapet merely interfitting in the head wall and retained in position by its weight and the weight of the shoulder of the road, subsequently filled in against it as indicated at 4|) in Figure l.

The floor section D has its outer portion narrow enough to fit between the beams consisting of the boards I0 and |2. At its inner end, it is composed of boards which are full thickness, projectin g as at 26, and others project as at 28, which are beveled to lit depressions or sockets 3| under th'e slope beams I0 and I2 and outwardly beyond the side walls A and B. The projections 26 are then built up by a triangular block 30 to lill in the remaining space and the projections 26 and 28 and the blocks 3U coacting with the sockets 3| serve as the sole means of retaining the oor section D in position relative to the rest of the head wall structure.

On the outer end of the floor section D, a curtain wall is constructed by driving pointed planks 32 into the ground indicated at 33, and nailing them to the section D. These preferably have tongue and groove connections and two boards 34 are likewise driven into the ground at the sides of the curtain formed by the planks 32, which are nailed to the outer ends of the slope beams.

By this construction, the oor section D can move upwardly as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1, due to heaving of the ground or other causes without the stresses applied thereto being transmitted to the head wall structure itself. This is an important factor in preventing breakage of the head wall at some point adjacent its outer end. The tongue and groove, connections between the boards 32 and 34 permit such movement without any interference, and yet the parts are all retained in properly assembled position.

The various sections of the head wall and of the culvert shown in connection therewith in Figure 4 have been indicated by the reference characters A to G with the aid of lines having arrow heads thereon to indicate the extent of each section. 'Ihe joints between the sectionsV are shown as heavy lines, and it will be noted that these joints are staggered, so as to break the joints, which, of course, is desirable to maintain the various parts'of the culvert and head wall in position assembled relative to each other without other fastening means, .as the culvert and head wall are merely built up in a ditch, the bottom of which is indicated at 42, and then the dirt is lled in around them, as indicated at 44.

Subsequently when it is necessary to disassemble and remove the culvert as when changing the location of the road, this can be readily done without having to remove any fastening means or break any part of the culvert or head, wall in any manner.

Also a top culvert section J has been illustrated in Figure 4 and it will be noted that it extends to a point just back of the notches Ila. Thus when the parapet I-I is placed in position, it contacts with the outer end of the section J, forming a closed joint.

Each side wall A and B and the beam surmounting its upper edge are assembled at the factory as units.

The parapet is also a unit and so are each bottom section C and D, the curtain wall boards 32 and 34 being applied after the head wall structure is placed in position.

This arrangement provides for compactness during shipping as the various sections can be laid flat in a freight car or the like without waste of space.

The sections are put together as indicated also for convenience in handling and assembly on the job.

It will be obvious that each part can be readily assembled with the other parts by merely placing them in the proper positions relative to each other without the aid of any fastening means, after which the earth is tamped around the head wall to retain the parts in position.

The peculiar connection between the section D and the rest of the head wall readily permits relative movement caused by any normal condition which would otherwise tend to break the head wall or at least loosen some parts relative to other parts.

Some changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my structure without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a culvert head wall structure, a laminated iioor,l laminated side walls having sloping upper ends, slope beams surmounting said upper ends, each beam comprising strips in laminated arrangement, and a parapet extending across and abutting the upper ends of said slope beams.

2. In a culvert head wall structure, a floor, side walls having sloping upper ends and slope beams surmounting said upper ends, at least the outer portion of said floor located between said side walls and beams, and projection and socket connections between said side walls and floor.

3. A culvert head wall structure including sides, a floor section extending to a point substantially spaced from the outer ends of said sides, and a second floor section forming .an extension of said i'lrst floor section, located between said sides andA confined thereby against lateral displacement, and means to retain said second floor section against displacement longitudinally of said head wall but permit some vertical movement thereof.

4. -In a culvert head wall structure, a laminated floor, laminated side walls having sloping upper ends, slope beams surmounting said upper ends, and a parapet extending from the upper end of one of said slope beams to the upper end of the other one, said side walls having sockets adjacent the upper ends of said beams, the ends of said parapet being received therein.

5. In a culvert head wall structure, a floor, side walls having sloping upper edges, slope beams surmounting said upperv edges and a parapet extending across and abutting the upper ends of said slope beams.

6. In a culvert head wall structure, a iioor and side walls having sloping upper edges, said floor being located between said Side walls and connections between said side walls and floor com- .prising projections on said floor and notches in the lower edges of said side walls to receive said projections.

7. In a culvert head wall structure, a floor and side wall structures and projection and socket connections between said side walls and a portion of said floor, spaced inwardly from the outer end thereof, the portion of said floor, extending outwardly from said projection and socket connections, being located between said side wall structures.

8. In a culvert head wall structure, a laminated oor, laminated side walls having sloping upper ends, slope beams surmounting said upper ends, a parapet extending across the upper ends of said slope beams, the outer portion of said floor comprising a floor member located between said side walls and having lateral extensions at the inner end thereof, said side walls having sockets receiving said extensions to retain said floor member in relative position and yet permit vertical swinging movement of said floor member relative to said head wall.

9. In a culvert head wall structure, a laminated floor, laminated side walls having sloping upper ends, slope beams surmounting said upper ends,

a parapet extending across the upper ends of said slope beams, the outer portion of said floor comprising a floor member located between said side walls and having lateral extensions at the inner end thereof, said side walls having sockets receiving said extensions to retain said floor member in relative position and yet permit vertical swinging movement of said floor member relative to said head wall, and a curtain wall having a portion secured to the outer ends of said beams, and a portion secured to the outer end of said iioor member.

10. In a culvert head wall structure, a laminated iioor, laminated side walls having sloping upper ends, slope beams surmounting said upper ends, a parapet extending across the upper ends of said slope beams, the outer portion of said floor comprising a `floor member located between said side walls and having lateral extensions at the inner end thereof, said side walls having sockets receiving said extensions to retain said floor member in relativeposition and yet permit vertical swinging movement of said floor member relative to said head wall, and a curtain wall having a portion secured to the outer ends of said beams and a portion secured to the outer end of said floor member, said curtain wall portions having vertical tongue and groove connections with each other permitting relative movement longitudinally of the connection without displacement of one portion relative to the other. 11. A culvert head wall structure including side wall structures and a floor, a section of said floor at the outer end thereof being located between, and conned against lateral movement by said side wall structures and projection and socket connections between the inner end of said section and the lower edges of said side wall structures to conne said section against outward movement longitudinally of said head wall structure. 

